Order in the Court
by DaBlackRose
Summary: When a gold digger gets his hands on rich Serena Alexander it comes down to a messy divorce and Serena goes for the best, Rei Hino a lawyer with a rockin reputation and a knack for uncovering scandalous situations. [AR]
1. Day 1

Why did she agree to do a divorce case again? Rei thought to herself, while she played with her pencil idly, trying not to look to annoyed. Why did the prosecution always think they could hold everyone up?

She heard the door shut and the jury quiet down, but the black haired beauty didn't look up. She put her hand reassuringly on her client's arm, as the blonde girl's crystal blue eyes followed the prosecution to their seats. Rei grabbed the girl's hand, feeling sorry for the girl, as her client's eyes filled with tears. She heard the squeak of the prosecution's chair. Why would anyone want to divorce this girl? She was spectacular; kind, beautiful, and willing to work it out.

Rei ignored the prosecution for a moment more, knowing it would make the lawyer angry. She had heard about this guy, heard he was a mean son-of-a-bitch. He was supposed to be good, could win any case. Her partner Ami had warned her he charmed all the lady lawyers. Rei had no doubt she would be able to resist him.

"All rise for Judge Thromberg," Rei stood subtly pulling her black skirt down. The judge walked in and nodded at the bailiff. The judge's eyes met with Rei's with such determination that it sent adrenaline running through the lawyer's veins. The judge possessed an air of authority, than none could rival. Despite being fairly young and beautiful with green-black hair running down her slim form, she had quite a reputation. Thromberg had presided over several cases of Rei's and she was a spit-fire with a overly large sense of justice. Rei knew better than to underestimate the judge. Though Rei would never audibly admit it, Thromberg was someone Rei admired and respected.

Everyone sat down and the plaintiff started with the opening statement. Rei took the chance to peak at this so-called Lady Charmer. His blonde hair was slicked back with a silver stud through his right ear, he wore a navy suite and stood in such a confident way it almost made Rei gag. His jacket coat was on his chair already with his white sleeves rolled up. He wore a shiny grey tie with what looked like signatures all over it. Rei rolled her eyes. He doesn't look so great to me! Rei huffed mentally.

"… And I will prove that Mrs. Alexander did actually commit adultery. Mr. Alexander not only deserves a divorce, but has earned one." During the last line, the prosecution looked at Rei, with a sparkle in his eye. He grinned in a i-know-i'm-your-god sort of way, Rei hated him immediately.

"Thank you J.D," Said the Judge as he sat down. "Defense?"

Rei stood, unimpressed by "J.D." She snuck a glance at his client, the man sat looking overly pitiful. His shoulders were slumped, his suit was askew and his ponytail was a mess. He had rings around his eyes and his nose was red, as if from crying. This was quite a different man from the one who had haughtily refused to reconsider his divorce case even after her client had begged him sincerely before the case began. Rei was revolted by the man, who was so obviously after his wife's money.

"I will prove simply that Mrs. Alexander not only did not cheat on her husband, but is in fact a victim to her husband's girl-hitting, greedy paws. " Rei tried to emphasize her point as she met with each juror's eyes, then sat down with her legs crossed. She gave J.D. a half smile, just to let him know that she wasn't going down easy.

"Plaintiff call your first witness," Judge Thromberg demanded.

"We call Mr. Alexander's mother to the stand." J.D. rose. An elderly woman wearing a floral print dress rose and slowly walked toward the stand and swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but.

"Mrs. Alexander…"

"Oh, call me Ma'amsy, deary."

J.D. cleared his throat and looked at the judge as the rest of the courtroom giggled. She nodded briefly and he continued, "Ma'amsy, could you tell me about your son's character?"

Rei rolled her eyes. As if a mother wasn't biased! "Oh he's a good boy. He is quite a business man and he makes good money, or at least better than his father. He once helped get the neighbor lady's cat out of a tree. He even helps me carry my groceries."

"Does he tell you about his life?"

"Yes, he tells me everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes, he told me when he first went out on a date and when he got his first kiss. With Melissa? Do you remember that dear?" she looked at her son and he nodded somewhat embarrassedly.

"Did he tell you about Serena?" J.D. said pointing toward the defense's table.

"Why, yes. Yes he did. He came home with a sparkle in his eyes and I knew he was in love."

"What did he tell you about her?"

"He said he loved her and hadn't ever met a girl quite like her. She was the only one who had ever refused him, he is such an attractive man and all."

"Did he invite you to his wedding?"

"Of course!"

"Did you meet Serena before hand?"

The old woman nodded.

"What did you think of her?"

"She was very pretty and sweet, but she ate a lot of food. More than a lady ought."

"Anything else?"

"Well, She refused to sleep on the couch, she absolutely insisted on sharing a room with my son. I was a little upset because Seiya is such a good boy and he doesn't need her kind of temptation. But she insisted, and I had no choice but to refuse. They spent the night in a hotel. I couldn't have that kind of shenanigans going on under my roof!"

Rei finally had enough, she stood. "Your Honor, I fail to see how a biased mother's opinion of her son is relevant. I motion…"

"Over ruled," The judge said. "I think it does have some relevance."

Rei sat down a little disgruntled. She crossed her arms. How stupid this was becoming.

J.D. smiled at her pout from the witness stand, "Is there anything else you want to tell us?"

"Just that I never liked her. I knew she was loose from the minute I saw her. I told my son, 'Seiya she isn't good for you, don't have this wedding.' But no, he didn't listen. And now look where he is!"

"Thank you, Ma'amsy." J.D. sauntered to Rei's table and leaned down trying to tempt her. "Your witness," he said with a wink.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rei muttered. Serena Alexander put a comforting hand on Rei's shoulder, which helped bring Rei's neutral confidence back. Her client was being wronged and she had to stop it. She stood and went to the witness stand.

"Mrs. Alexander…"

"Please call me Ma'amsy, honey."

"Mrs. Alexander," Rei stressed. "Did your son have many girlfriends?"

"Yes, he IS an attractive boy."

"Did they ever stay the night?"

"Oh, no. I wouldn't have it."

Rei paused and the elderly woman caught her son's attention. "You should have picked her deary. She's a pretty one!"

Rei glared daggers at Seiya, who sunk down in his chair. She gave a futile glance at the Judge, silently telling her this was a waste of time.

"Did your son ever date any loose women?"

"Oh no, He would never do that."

"But you don't know?"

"Oh, I know all right. He isn't that kind of boy."

"Did you ever meet his girlfriends?"

"When he was younger, but not since he moved out. Until Miss Serena, she had him so bewitched with that pretty face of hers…"

"Thank you. You may step down, Mrs. Alexander." Rei tried not to look weary or disgusted while she returned to her seat. Serena leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry, she is such a controlling mother you almost have to feel sorry for him. She believes he's an angel and not capable of any harm," she paused studying Rei's face. "I didn't like her either." Rei cracked a smile at such a sincere confession, but quickly regained her composure.

"Next Witness," the judge demanded.

"We call Yaten Starlight to the stand."

Rei waited while a young man with long silver hair that was slicked back in a rough ponytail walked to the witness stand. He swore to tell the truth with a "Yeah," and sat down on the stand. He looked bored and had diamond earrings that glittered in her eyes as he turned his head to fix his hair.

J.D. approached the stand confidently. "State your name and relationship to the plaintiff for the court."

"Yaten Starlight, I'm his best friend," he stated non-chalantly.

"Was Mr. Alexander in love with Mrs. Alexander?"

"Please. Less formal names here. Yes, seiya was in love with Serena,"

"How do you know?"

"The first day he met her he was very distracted. We had gone out like we normally did on a Friday night. He seemed distant, and when I wanted to go do our usual activities he wasn't interested as he normally was. When I asked him what was wrong, he said he had met a girl. I tried to get his mind off her with another beauty but he wouldn't have it. He wanted only her,"

"He wanted only her," J.D. repeated for the jury. "That doesn't sound like a man who would part with his wife easily. How was their relationship?"

Yaten shrugged, making eye contact with Rei's client. "I assume it went well. I began to see less and less of him, then I had heard from friends that he proposed. Next thing I knew, I was at the wedding. They looked happy to me."

"Wow, a man who spends more time with his girl instead of his friends, sounds devoted to me." J.D. smiled at Rei as he went back to his seat, leaving a note on her desk.

Rei ignored it and scowled momentarily then stood and approached the man, whom she had already taken a disliking to. But he perked up at her approach, openly checking her out.

"What happened after the wedding?" Rei asked, trying to remain professional.

"What do you mean?" Yaten responded staring at her chest.

"Did you see your friend after the wedding? How often did you see him?"

"Oh, all the time. We started going out on Friday nights again. It must have been his guys night out. You could come with us, if you promise to be a good girl," Yaten winked. Rei ignored it. She was used to these kind of man-pigs.

"Guys night out? Does that mean you never saw Mrs. Serena Alexander?"

"Oh, no, they would invite me over for dinner often. She is… a decent cook."

"Did they ever fight?"

"Yeah, but doesn't every couple?"

Rei scowled again, but then began to pace around the room. "What did they fight about?"

"They fought about her cooking, I guess she burnt a lot of things at first. He always seemed to be angry that the laundry wasn't done. You know, regular stuff."

She turned on Yaten, brows furrowed. "He was mad because the laundry wasn't done? That doesn't seem very loving." She paused for a moment to notice the blonde haired girl who still sat at her table. She looked frail yet beautiful. She was dressed in a summer dress that was white with orange flowers. This girl looked innocent, she didn't look like someone who had dealt with laundry or with the scum of a husband she had had.

"Where did they meet?"

"Well, heck. I introduced them. They met at a bar. She was the hottest babe in the whole place, not to mention filthy rich."

"Indeed. Then what happened?"

"I had gone to pick her up, but she wasn't very interested. I don't think she had gone to bars often. So I bet Seiya he couldn't get her to dance."

"Where were you? Was it the same place you went on Guy's night out?" Rei asked quickly turning to the witness stand.

Yaten paused, looking straight at Seiya, a bit of panic in his confident eyes. She smiled, finally she struck on something.

"Seiya met Serena at a bar. But Guys Night Out was at clubs."

"What kind of clubs?"

Again a pause.

"May I remind you, you are under oath, sir,"

He nodded slowly and looked her straight in the face, "Strip clubs ma'am and other kinds of gentleman's clubs."

"Oh?" Rei asked, "So you are saying that when you first met my client you were at a bar?"

"Yes,"

"And several days later you were at a strip club and Mr. Seiya Alexander wasn't interested in the girls because he had already met Serena at a bar the night before?"

"Yes…"

"And he started being interested in them again after getting married?"

"Well, yeah." He said again.

"That doesn't sound like love to me, did she just put up with it?"

He looked at her again, as if measuring her up. "I don't really know."

"You said you went over often, and you don't know how she felt after you both came home from a strip club?"

"Yes,"

"That doesn't make much sense. How did Mr. Alexander treat his new wife?"

"Fine,"

"I need a little bit more of an answer than that, Mr. Yaten."

"She seemed fine, she cooked and cleaned and did his bidding and as good wife ought to!" He yelled at her.

Several women in the jury huffed. Rei smiled again. This was why she had become a lawyer. "You're saying she was servile? And that all women should serve their husbands?"

"Well…" Yaten smiled lewdly at her and she took the opportunity to glance at J.D. to make sure he was drinking this in.

"You have to answer the question, Mr. Starlight." She reminded him.

"That was Seiya's attitude, yes." Yaten declared.

"Thank you, that's all, Your Honor," Rei said tartly and returned to her chair to gave her client's hand a quick squeeze.

"Sorry, man," Yaten whispered to Seiya so the whole court could hear. "But she was hot! What can I say, I was flustered?"

"I read your note," Serena whispered to Rei. "J.D. asked you out."

Rei caught J.D.'s eye and ripped his note so he could see. She smiled beautifully, licking her lips.

"Next witness," Judge Thromberg stated agitatedly.

J.D. stood up still staring at Rei, "Actually, Your Honor, I ..uh… I wanted to request a recess to discuss with my client."

Setsuna Thromberg pursed her lips in agitation. "Permission granted," she sighed. "Court will recess at noon tomorrow." She pounded her gavel and left the court room.

Rei smiled slyly at J.D. as Seiya, whose pitiful composure was now long gone, left in a huff. "You haven't won yet, my sexy little vixen!" J.D. whispered at her as he followed Seiya out of the court room.

She turned to her client, and the small blonde girl looked at her with admiration shining in her eyes. "We haven't won yet. You had better come to my house tonight and bring as many of the witnesses as you can. We have some research to do!" Rei told the girl.

* * *

I smoothed down my should length black hair a little and paused at the door, pulling down on my leather jacket and listening to the muffled sounds of laughing girls inside. I knew Rei was working late on her case and felt a little guilty that I had not attended her first triumphant day. I had brought her and her witnesses Chinese, as a sort of guilty apology. I pressed the bell. 

I hope this would make it up to her, we had been dating for about two years now and things were finally started to get serious. I wasn't sure I wanted them that way, but Rei was by far the best girl I'd ever dated. I mean how high up can a biker like me ever hope to go besides a beautiful intelligent lawyer. Even though it pained me to admit, lately there was something off, something missing about our whole relationship, but I couldn't place it. So I ignored it.

The door flung open and a smiling, raven-haired beauty stood before me. "Darien!" she hugged me visibly delighted by this new turn of events. I relaxed a little, I was in the clear. "Come in!" she said.

The girl turned aside revealing the contents of her apartment, several girls and a lone guy who sat around a round wooden table. Papers were strewn everywhere, books piled the floor, a white board was set up at the head of the table with a list of names and other words written in black marker, underneath were some rather elicit looking stick figures. The girls were obviously having way too much fun, much to the guy's disadvantage. Poor guy! His pale cheeks were still colored from some comment made by this gaggle of happy girls.

"Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Darien. Darien this is Lita, Mina, Andrew, and my client Serena," she pointed to each girl and the lone guy. They all looked like they just shared a good joke, with their eyes shining and smiles still on their faces. But my eyes rested on the last girl, hair of sunshine, eyes of the sky, body of a goddess. She should be the most spectacular thing in the room. Instead she gave me a brief sad smile, her hair looked droopy, her cheekbones protruded a little bit more than was health, and an unholy look came from her sad eyes. It made my soul cry in agony. I didn't know what kind of suffering she had gone through, but I wanted to save her from it. And there was something about her and that look I couldn't quite place. But I couldn't keep my eyes off her…

"Nice to meet you all," I said staring specifically at Serena and she gazed back. And even though I knew Rei would be pissed, I couldn't move my eyes away. What was it? The depths of those eyes, the sorrow she obviously felt. She must be really taking the divorce hard. "I brought some Chinese for everyone, since I couldn't make it to court today," He held up the large brown paper bag, and set it in the middle of the table. Everyone else dug in, but Darien and Serena's eyes were locked. He walked over to her while everyone else was scrounging for the Sweet and Sour Chicken.

"I'm sorry about your divorce. It must be hard," he squatted on the ground beside her chair.

She laughed faintly, "Yeah," tears started filling her eyes and my heart couldn't take it. She was so beautiful, how could any guy have treated her like this.

"Don't worry, Rei is a very good lawyer." I reached up and wiped her tears away.

"I know," she said softly.

"If you ever need anything," I said on a whim and handed her my card. I rose slowly feeling Rei walking over to us, knowing that was my cue to leave. After all, the girls had a long night ahead. Rei walked me to the door, as always.

"Thank you for the Chinese. Are you coming to court tomorrow?" she stared at me with those smoky violet eyes, putting her hands under my jacket and looked at me pleadingly. It was the same look that had held a sway over me since we first met, that tempting, languid, sexy look. I was pained to admit that right now it didn't do anything to my heart or my pulse.

"Of course," I said, leaning down I gave her a short kiss which normally made me feel like I was on the edge of a revelation. Today, I could only see blue eyes and wish it was golden strands I held in my hand now, rather than the thick, silky black ones. I moved back immediately. This was not good!

"See you tomorrow," she said, shutting the door gently behind me. I walked away, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, yet something quite different when I pictured those sad blue eyes. Why did life have to be so damn confusing?

* * *

_ A/N: I know this is a little bit out of the realm people do SM stories, but I wanted to try something new. I apologize if the summary wasn't sufficient, let's just say I've been cursed by the summary gods. Off to write more now...let me know how you take this. Good? Bad? Ugly? _


	2. Day 2

The next morning found Rei sitting on her balcony in her crimson bathrobe with a cup of steaming coffee, emanating its warmth. The crisp morning air gave Rei the awareness she needed to begin her second day in court. Rei smiled into her cup remembering yesterday. It had been a good day, not only was she able to formulate a game plan, but she had made some new friends as well. Everything was going well.

She went back inside, checking on Serena, who slept in her guestroom. It had been an unfamiliar gesture for Rei to invite her client to stay, but she could sense the girl's reluctance to leave. Rei knew she didn't want to be alone and spewed out the words before she could think, but hadn't regretted it.

Rei and Serena had shared a deep and meaningful that had given her plenty of ideas for how to tackle the case. Rei admired the girl, understanding what she had gone through. Perhaps this divorce was a good idea after all…not that Rei was giving up or anything.

Rei woke Serena and then mentally prepped for court. J.D. was no laughing matter, he was trying to pass off his client's lies as truth to the court and almost succeeding -- the despicable snake! Rei ignored the fact that if her client were guilty, she would be doing much the same thing. She began to hope the plan they'd set out on the whiteboard yesterday would be sufficient.

* * *

"All rise for Judge Thromberg," the bailiff shouted. The court rose, as Rei ignored the lewd, confident look J.D. kept casting on her. She reviewed the case in her head piecing together everything Serena had told her the night before. She would be ready.

The judge entered the courtroom and cast J. D. a look of indifference. "Are you ready for your next witness, J.D.?"

"We are, Your Honor," he replied, his bright eyes moving towards the judge. "We call Charles Zoicite to the stand."

Rei looked on as a man walk along the aisle with wavy blonde hair barely contained in a ponytail, but found herself immediately distracted by the pair of handsome blue eyes and dark hair -- Darien had come! She smiled and gave a little wave. He waved back, but there was something a little odd about his smile. Rei dismissed her reaction and turned her attention back to the court. She always performed better when he was there to support her.

"Mr. Zoicite, I was wondering if you could state your relationship to the Alexanders for the court," J.D. stated confidently, leaning against the rail of the podium in his sharp striped suit.

"I am a family friend. I've known them both since they moved in across the street about two years ago," he stated.

"Thank you, so what can you tell us about the Alexanders."

"Well, they were good neighbors. Seiya was a great football, drinking buddy and Serena really seemed to like him, at first."

"At first -- what can you tell us about their relationship?"

"Just that it seemed to get worse. Everyone started seeing a lot less of Serena and a lot more of Seiya and his friends. I still saw her from time to time. They had fights more frequently and she was always the one to run out of the house."

"Where would she go?"

"I think I saw her in the neighborhood playground once, I don't really follow her," Zoicite said coolly, leaning back in his chair. "I have my own stuff to worry about, you know?"

"Of course. Mr. Zoicite, did Serena have any visitors?" J.D. asked, looking at his fingernails.

"A few, she had several really cute girls who came to visit her. They were all babes! Oh, there was this one girl who was angelic with perfect blue hair and…"

"Ahem," J.D. looked at the man with stern eyes.

Wait a minute! Rei thought, that looks suspicious, have they been practicing this? Rei paid more attention, there was something weird going on here.

"Sorry," Zoicite rubbed the back of his head and blushed. "Anyway, she had girlfriends and two men. One, a blonde guy who owns the arcade downtown, Andrew I think his name is. The other one I didn't recognize."

"Thank you, that is all," J.D. winked at Rei and sat down.

Rei brushed off his arrogant gesture with a look of contempt and allowed her determination to shine through. Deciding to have a little fun with this witness for Darien's benefit, Rei applied a little extra lipstick, readjusted her hair, and assumed a more coquettish disposition.

Rei took her sweet time walking to the podium, that's right, look at me, and don't concentrate on what you discussed with J.D.

"Can you remind me one more time how long you've known the Alexanders," Rei asked sweetly.

"Uh…" Zoicite's eyes nearly popped out of his head, as he stared at the hot, raven-haired lawyer in her stylish grey suit, paying particular attention to her short, tight-fitting skirt.

"Do you not remember, Mr. Zoicite?" Rei asked appealingly.

"No.. I do. It was..uh, about two," Zoicite swallowed, "years ago."

"And you said Serena had visitors right?"

"Yeah," he gulped.

"Can you tell me about those visitors?" Rei asked, pacing back and forth slowly, grateful she decided on pumps today. It gave her some semblance of self-possession.

"Which…which ones?" Zoicite stuttered.

"Tell me about the men," Rei asked, missing the looks exchanged by J.D. and Zoicite.

"Andrew, he's a great guy, loves kids, only talked to him twice though. The other one had short white hair, you would know him when he walked into a room. His visits started for Seiya, I think. He was, like, his boss or something."

"What about his visits?" Rei suddenly became more serious, pondering the mystery man's identity. "How often did he come?"

"He started visiting more often and I wouldn't have dreamed of anything suspicious until I started noticing he would visit when Seiya was at work or on trips. I even saw his car there in the middle of the night. It looked like she was having an affair to me," Rei looked up sharply at J.D. and back to Zoicite each sharing the same cocky smile. Her heart thudded in her chest. He had uttered the dreaded 'affair' word and she had caused it! Had she been set up? She wondered enraged.

"Do you know what happened during those visits?" Rei winced, dumb question!

"No, but they were pretty shady to me." Zoicite smiled. Oh you dumb girl, Rei chided herself. Get out of this hole!

"Did you ever have any cause to believe Serena was cheating on Mr. Alexander other than these visits? Like, did you ever see her with this man outside the house?"

"Well… no. But like I said, I'm not a very nosey neighbor."

"Yes," Rei said softly, remaining silent for several moments, trying to process the information and connect the loose ends.

"Are there any further questions?" the Judge looked expectantly at Rei.

"Just one, did you ever meet this mysterious visitor?"

"Huh?" Zoicite looked taken aback. "Well…yes, once."

"When?"

"At dinner. Serena made lasagna for several of Seiya's friends, I was there and so was he."

"What did you think of this stranger?" J.D. frowned at this question, but knew better than to oppose it.

"Why I don't know. He seemed laid back, but very determined. He seemed to be very much in control and always the center of attention. But…" Zoicite quickly shut his mouth.

"But what?" Rei studied the man as he tried to remember. He looked sincere, but Rei wasn't so sure.

"I always thought something was off about the guy, you know? Like he was hiding something,"

Rei considered this for a moment, "Yeah…" She sighed. It wasn't enough of an answer to sway the jury in her favor, but it was a lead.

"That's all," Rei said dismissively, sitting down. It would be hard to recover from that trap! Rei looked at Serena beside her, her head bowed -- eyes shut. The girl looked troubled, as if she was remembering something painful. Rei put her hand on her wrist.

"Should I ask for a recess?" she whispered. Serena looked up at Rei with tear-filled eyes and shook her head. Rei softened immediately, remembering the horrible things Serena and her friends had told her. She couldn't wait to pull her ace out of her sleeve.

"Next witness," Judge Thromberg demanded.

J.D. stood silently a moment, then with his god-like smile said confidently, "We call Thomas Diamond to the stand." Rei held her breath, this was J.D.'s ace, if she could survive this; she might win this case.

The doors opened dramatically at the back of the courtroom and out stepped a strong, confident, attractive white-haired man. He wore a white jacket with beautiful silver embroidery, which made his white hair stand out. He had chiseled features that even Michelangelo would have trouble reproducing, with a pair of shocking electric blue eyes that made Rei's heart skip a beat. His presence rivaled that of Setsuna's, which was no small feat. He had a regal manner, which made everything he did seem important. All eyes were fixed on him as he sauntered along the isle and gracefully through the gate.

J.D. shook hands with the man as he took the stand and exchanged a few polite greetings. The contrast between the two men was startling and gave Rei an excuse to stare. Serena shuddered quietly by her side. Rei now understood why she would be coupled with this man. It was only someone of her unique combination of beauty, strength and fragility that could match him.

Diamond took his oath, as a king would accept his crown. Rei did not envy J.D. the task of questioning the man, nor did she look forward to her own cross-examination.

"Could you please state your name, profession, and relation to my client for the court?" J.D. began loudly.

"Thomas Diamond, CEO of the Hiatoki Goods and Trade Corporation. I am Seiya Alexander's boss and I have an intimate relationship with Ms. Serena Alexander."

"Thank you. Your Honor, I would like to submit these three photos as evidence of the affair." J.D. switched on a projection screen where he showed the jury several black and white grainy photos of a laughing couple seated at a table in a restaurant as well as one where the man's arm rested on the woman's delicate shoulders, walking out of a Café. The woman was unmistakably Serena, as her characteristic hairstyle was hard to duplicate.

"Mr. Diamond, Is this you in these photographs?"

"Yes," he replied confidently.

"What were you doing with Serena Alexander?"

"It was a Café we frequented on one of our many excursions," he said casually.

"Excursions?"

"Yes, we met at several rendezvous points to discuss and conduct our relationship."

"Can you tell us how long your relationship lasted?"

"I BEG your pardon?" Diamond declared, appalled. "As soon as this nasty court affair is done, Serena will be moving to my private estate," he looked over J.D.'s head at Serena and she began to squirm, obviously feeling uncomfortable. Rei leaned back in her seat, intentionally giving the jury a full view of Serena's expression. With any luck, they would recognize Serena's body language. She obviously didn't like the guy.

J.D. cleared his throat a little awkwardly, "My apologies. How long ago did your relationship start?" J.D. amended.

"Almost a month ago," Diamond stated simply.

"When did you and Serena meet?"

"We met almost a month ago, at the Alexander's dinner party. She was serving the meal and she was such a beautiful girl. I'd never seen the like."

"When did the relationship begin?"

"It took me several days to try to clear her out of my head, but she didn't go away. So I visited her when I knew her… Seiya would be at work and when she would be off work."

"Where did Serena work?"

"She started working at a local strip club about a week after I met her."

"A strip club? That doesn't seem very innocent or responsible."

"Was that a question?" Diamond's eyebrow lifted and J.D. blushed.

"I apologize. Did you ever watch her at work?"

"Are you kidding? She was the star of the place," Diamond said, disgusted. "I did go, though, I couldn't help myself. Who wouldn't?"

"Did you consummate the relationship?"

"It's a shame really. I didn't want to go too fast. So at first, Seiya would not allow it, regardless of the various offers I made them both,"

"You made them offers?" J.D. asked in disbelief.

"Not illegal, of course -- was just wondering, many couples are into threesomes."

The courtroom plunged into silence, J.D. was the first to recover, "Yes, so they both refused a threesome from you. Why did you continue to pursue Serena?"

"Pursue her? Because she was interested," Diamond looked at J.D. like he was an idiot.

"Yes," J.D.'s voice squeaked a little. "Well, yes, anyway. Can you tell me how Seiya discovered your relationship?"

"Gladly. He walked in on us trying to complete our relationship." Diamond's upper lip curled slightly, in a haughty expression aimed at Seiya.

"Please be specific, Mr. Diamond."

"He came home early from work and caught me with my hand under Serena's shirt and my pants off. Is that specific enough?"

J.D. nodded and sat back down, looking a little relieved.

Rei couldn't help but smile. He wasn't all-bad if he could do that to J.D. She approached the stand, enjoying the sound of her heels clacking on the courtroom floor. She didn't pull any tricks with him, he was too dangerous, too volatile.

"Mr. Diamond, why Serena? Why choose my married client over all the other women in this city?"

Diamond's lips curled up to reveal a genuine, charming smile. "That is an excellent question. I chose her because from the moment I saw her, I couldn't stop thinking about her. She is as beautiful as an angel is. But more than that, she is beautiful inside. She put up with her chump of a husband, who never deserved her. She was always kind and giving, even with those who don't deserve it. She is my equal, and the only one I want," he finished his statement and the courtroom fell silent once again. Diamond smiled again..

Rei knew Diamond had melted the hearts of almost every woman present, bar two. Rei exchanged sarcastic glances with Serena. What a load of bull!

"But she was married," Rei pointed out.

"Indeed, but she shouldn't have been. Any idiot could have seen how badly he treated her. He didn't know what he had! It was quite easy to sneak past him."

"Sneak past him?"

"Yeah, I visited Serena early in the relationship when Seiya was still home. He was too easy to slip by when he was drunk and watching porn…"

"WHAT?" Seiya exclaimed and jumped to his feet, momentarily forgetting his sad guise.

"Quiet! Order in the court," the green-haired judge slammed her gavel loudly. "Resume your seat, Mr. Alexander."

Seiya sat down discontentedly and the courtroom slowly calmed.

"Mr. Diamond," Rei began, "Please continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying, Seiya was too drunk and distracted, watching porn that he wasn't a problem. It was that dratted butler of hers."

"Excuse me, Mr. Diamond, but why would someone, who was married to a star stripper need to watch porn?" Rei inquired.

"That's the question isn't it? I wish I knew, but all I can say is that Seiya obviously never appreciated her." Seiya cast daggers at Diamond, but Diamond ignored him.

"Can you tell me a bit more about the compromising situation and how it elevated to that? After all, didn't you say that you hadn't consummated your relationship?"

"We hadn't. But I wanted to, and things led on from there."

"Things?"

"For goodness sake, woman, do I have to spell it out for you, are you people really that innocent?" Diamond put his hand over his chest delicately.

"I think we understand, Mr. Diamond," Thromberg interrupted Rei, glaring at her.

Rei ignored her, determined to press on. "One more question, have you seen any bruises or injuries on Serena's body?"

"Not really," Diamond said, unconcerned. "But I didn't really get a chance to look."

"That will be all," Rei said, wishing she could throw both he and his ego through the wall. He stepped down and walked with poise past her and out of the courtroom wall.

"I think that is enough for now. I grant a fifteen minute recess," Setsuna Thromberg pounded her gavel and retreated to her quarters, and the jury proceeded out through a separate door.

Rei looked at J.D. with fire in her eyes, sure somehow he had set that whole situation up. "Just try that again!" Rei challenged when she stopped by J.D.'s desk on her way to her own.

"Sorry," J.D. shrugged, staring at her through his long blonde lashes. "He's a difficult witness? I…"

Rei cut him off with a toss of her hair and proceeded to her table, to discover Serena and Darien deep in conversation. They quieted as she approached, but Rei was too agitated to notice.

"What a piece of work," Rei commented silently to the two people standing at her table. Serena nodded. Rei prepared some of her notes. She was glad Darien was supportive enough to handle her fragile client while she prepared for the most important cross-examination of the day -- Seiya.

Rei flipped through his personal file, something both lawyers had on each witness. The manila folder contained a grossly overdone photo of Seiya sitting on a stool looking out with those haughty eyes in a pair of expensive designer trousers and diamond jewelry that he had so obviously bought with his wife's money.

His police record revealed nothing much of note, a DUI, a month in juvie hall when he was 16 and caught in possession of marijuana, several speeding tickets, nothing she could use to incriminate him. Under the police record were several bank accounts and cell phone bills, but nothing useful. She happened to glance at Seiya, who was mentally preparing himself for his performance. He was crying and slapping his face and pulling his shirt down. It was really too bad the jury couldn't see this. Disgusted, Rei shut the folder and waited until the judge returned.

"All rise!" boomed the bailiff, pulling Rei from her musings.

Rei rose. She looked strong and ready as a pitiful looking Seiya raised his right hand. There was she knew, some way to use him to her advantage, she just had to expose him at the right moment.

J.D. began self-assuredly, knowing this was his primary means of winning, "Seiya, can you tell the court about your wife?"

"That's her, sitting there," Seiya pointed tearfully. "Isn't she beautiful?" he said, wistfully.

"She is. You were a lucky man to have married her," J.D. commented kindly.

"I thought so too, but don't be deceived, sir. She is a heartbreaker," Seiya sobbed pathetically.

"Why would you say that?"

Seiya simply shook his head, his eyes already red and bloodshot.

"You must have loved her very much."

"I did. I really did. She was my whole world. When I first met her, I couldn't think of anything else. She was a goddess. Until that night…"

"What night?"

"The night I caught my beautiful precious wife with HIM!" Seiya stood and pointed at Diamond sitting in the crowd. The white-haired man showed no remorse and the jury gasped at the accusation.

"Your Honor, I would like to take this moment to submit exhibit B, a picture taken by my client of Serena and Diamond caught in the act!" J.D. handed the picture over to the judge and passed a separate copy to the jury.

Rei had seen this picture before she had taken the case. It featured Diamond's back, leaning over a very scared-looking Serena without her shirt on. She was wearing a gold bra with glitter all over it, she had one hand crumpling Diamond's jacket while the other was supporting her weight. But the look in Serena's eyes had caught Rei's attention. She looked pained, almost pleading. She hadn't wanted to be in this situation, but she didn't know how to get herself out. This had been the deciding factor in taking the case. Girls shouldn't be forced into these types of situations. Rei turned her attention to Serena, who already knew what was in the picture, her face pale. Rei knew the anguish the picture conveyed held the key, but she also knew it could be interpreted as an admission of guilt.

"Calm down," Rei held the shaking girl's hand under the table and whispered in her ear. "It will be okay. We'll get him tomorrow."

"What was your reaction when you found your wife this way?" J.D. asked sympathetically.

"I was…horrified!" Seiya began to cry crocodile tears, it looked ridiculous and obviously over acted. "My beautiful wife…"

"I understand this is a difficult time for you, Mr. Alexander, but we need you to go on," J.D. paused to pat him on the shoulder. "Can you tell us what happened that night in your own words?"

"Well, " Seiya began, still whimpering, "I had gotten off work early. We fought the night before and I felt guilty about it. I thought I could make it up to her if I brought home a take-away dinner. I had so much fun looking for silver candles to put on our table and other decorations," Seiya paused to make sure the jury got a good look at his glistening tears and wistful smile. "I got home and noticed she wasn't anywhere to be found on the first floor. I didn't think anything of it, because I heard footsteps upstairs. I took about five minutes to set up our beautiful candlelight dinner, when I heard some moans coming from the next floor . I went upstairs wondering what was happening when… when… I saw that!" Seiya's voice cracked and he pointed to the picture in the judge's hand and began to sob once again.

The jury along with the entire courtroom began to murmur and Serena turned red. "He's such a liar!" she said looking angrily at her husband. "He never had a dinner planned! He came home drunk! He…"

Rei squeezed her hand, "Shh… we still have tomorrow."

"I know its tough going, but can you explain the scene?"

"No, I just can't bare to describe it. I think the picture does enough," Seiya sobbed into J.D.'s expensive suit. J.D. looked a little disgusted and Rei stifled a laugh.

"Oh… Okay – Hey, can you get off my suit, this was expensive!" J.D. shoved the man back into the witness seat. That was a mistake, Rei thought smugly. The jury heard that and now they all know you're a jerk!

"I didn't know, I didn't know she was having an affair with him. I hadn't a clue. She is such a minx, a beautiful lying minx." Seiya sobbed.

Rei brushed her bangs out of her eyes. This was getting ridiculous. She rose, "Is it my turn, J.D. or are you not done yet?"

"What?" J.D. looked blankly at her, but quickly recovered. "Of course, Miss Hino. Go ahead, I am finished, your witness." He swaggered back to his chair.

She snubbed him and directly approached the sobbing Seiya. "What happened after you found them?"

"I just ran out, out of the house and directly to my lawyer. He can tell you, I can tell you I told him all about it. I checked into a hotel, I just couldn't bear to stay."

Rei looked annoyed. "How did you not know your wife was having an affair?"

"How could I have? You heard, she did it all while I was at work, with my boss, no less!"

"What if he was raping her, or attacking her, did you ever think to ask? Did you ever stop and look?"

"Don't be preposterous. Diamond himself admitted it. Just look at her!" Seiya stood pointing at Serena with an accusing finger and tearstained cheeks.

All attention turned to the girl sitting beside Rei's empty chair, she looked small, and frightened. She was pale and weak, but was beautiful nonetheless. Serena was also sweating, overall she looked quite guilty.

Rei cursed cross examination for the moment. She wished she could bring up other topics, but she was only allowed to ask for clarification of what he had already said. Rei studied the picture in front of her, when she got an idea. "You know what I'm wondering, Mr. Alexander?" Rei continued, bringing everyone's attention back to the matter at hand, trying to spare Serena. "What kind of camera did you take this picture with?"

"Huh?"

"Because it's strange that you knew nothing about your wife's alleged affair, yet you walked up the stairs with a camera ready to catch them in the act?"

"Well.. I," Seiya stuttered, a panicked look came over his face. He looked to his lawyer for help, but J.D. shrugged, pointing at his wet suit vest.

"It seems a little odd to me that…" Rei began, feeling better, she had finally caught him off guard.

"Cell phone," Seiya blurted out.

"What?"

"I took the picture on my cell phone. It was in my pocket at the time. You can see it if you like," Seiya quickly whipped out a small pink razor phone and began to scroll through the pictures. "Here it is!" he shouted triumphantly and handed the phone to Rei, but she was not deterred.

"So, you're telling me that you walked up the stairs and saw the alleged love of your life supposedly cheating with another man and your first instinct was to pull out your cell phone and take a picture?"

"Well, no, I mean yes,"

"Mr. Alexander?" Rei crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I don't really remember to be honest. I just saw them together, and it just hurt so much. I can't remember much until I got to my lawyer's house. I was just so upset."

"Indeed," Rei said, coolly and walked back to her seat, giving J.D. Seiya's cell phone. Your client is a slime ball, Rei thought to him.

As she returned to her seat, J.D.'s voice came from behind her, "We have no more witnesses, Your Honor."

Rei turned to face Judge Setsuna. "Very well, Court is now dismissed until noon on Thursday." The green haired beauty pounded the gavel on the desk very solemnly and walked out the door, Thursday? That gave Rei an extra day to get her witnesses together! Thank you, ma'am, Rei thought.

Swarms of people were trying to talk to each other about what happened as she gathered her belongings. She had to push her way to where Darien was speaking to Serena again.

"Tomorrow," he promised the blonde as Rei approached.

"You mean Thursday don't you?" Rei asked, wondering if he hadn't heard the judge.

Darien immediately turned red, but regained his composure. "Right, I meant Thursday."

Before he could finish, J.D. interrupted, "I just wanted to say how stunning and fiery you looked today. Would you be interested in dinner tonight?" he purred in her ear.

Rei's eyes connected with Darien's as she forcefully pushed J.D. away in disgust. "Darien!" she cried in relief, as he appeared in front of her. She threw her arms about his neck, and kissed him deeply. Darien held her tight and returned the kiss a little half-heartedly, leaving both J.D. and Serena staring awkwardly.

Darien was the first to back away guiltily. "Oh, where are my manners? Darien, this is J.D., J.D. This is my long-time boyfriend, Darien," Rei affirmed prettily, knowing she just dealt a blow to his pride. It was important to her for some reason that he be impressed.

"Long time boyfriend?" J.D. stood in shock.

"What?" Rei asked, anger sizzling. "Do you think I can't get a boyfriend?"

"Well, I…." J.D. stammered trying to avoid the menacing look Darien was giving him.

"Come on, Serena, let's go home," Rei said collecting her items and putting her arm over the girl's thin shoulders. Then turned back, "Thank you for coming today, Darien, are you coming over too?"

"Huh? Oh, what did you say?"

"Are you coming?" Rei asked impatiently.

"Nah, I have to go. You girls have a good time. Good job too-- both of you!" Darien said quickly and practically vanished amongst the crowd.

* * *

After leaving Serena in the care of her therapist, Rei went out to have her weekly meeting with her best friend, Dr. Ami Martin at the deli on 29th street. It was her favorite restaurant, because it was the only place she remembered going to with her mother, who had died when she was very young.

The door chimed, announcing the exhausted lawyer's entrance. The clerk at the counter looked up, recognized her, the young girl waved, and went back to her task of restocking.

Rei headed toward a small outcropping where a quiet, demure woman with short blue hair sat, fiddling with her glasses and biting her lip.

"Ami," Rei said quietly, not wanting to startle her friend. The blue-haired woman looked up, a serious expression on her face, and then she smiled.

"Rei!" the two women shared a quick embrace before taking their seats. "How are you? How has the case been?" Ami set aside the files she had been pouring over and put down her glasses.

"I am fine, the case is a little more challenging than I first thought it would be," Rei explained. "Thank you," she called out, waving to the waitress. The cheery woman stopped by their table with their usual drinks in hand and their orders tallied up. They were quite the regulars.

Rei felt at ease here, and sank into her chair. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the little deli. It wasn't a busy day for them today, Rei sighed contentedly.

"Oh Ami," Rei began, "I don't know where you dug up that case, but boy is that prosecution lawyer good."

"Not to mention, cute," Ami smiled, lifting the steaming drink to her lips.

"Seriously, Ami," Rei said with a deadpan stare, "and the witnesses aren't very much fun either. I can't believe that girl went through all that!"

"She is a pretty strong woman," Ami agreed.

"I would never put up with my husband hitting me, watching porn, or lying to everyone like that," Rei growled, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm sure you wouldn't, but I'm also sure Serena didn't want to either. After all, those kinds of guys are slimy. They start out nice and dreamy and then manipulate you so much you don't know which way you're going," Ami sounded off chidingly, having watched Rei date many such guys before she met Darien.

"True," Rei amended, "and poor Serena does look really worried about the whole thing. I keep hoping it's not because she's still in love with him. And meeting that Thomas Diamond, man! I think I understand her story a little better now."

"Thomas Diamond?"

"Oh, you would know him if you saw him, Ami. Too bad his brother Sapphire wasn't allowed to testify. He's had proof of almost ten reported cases of rape, stalking and court restraints, all against Diamond. According to his brother, Diamond's last girlfriend, Prisma, ended up kidnapped for awhile before Diamond decided she wasn't 'the one'. Whatever that means. Talk about creepy, huh? That would have shot down his testimony in a hurry."

"Why couldn't he testify?" Ami prodded, readjusting her glasses.

"I guess he already has a court case pending against Diamond, not that I blame him. The conflict of interest really makes it hard to accept his testimony," Rei thought aloud.

Ami put Rei at ease, the cool, sharp demeanor of her best and only friend always made her worries slowly melt away. "Some guys want an already submissive woman, that's probably why Diamond forces himself on the likes of Serena."

"You're probably right."

"I heard on the news that Seiya testified today."

"News?"

"She is one of the richest people in this town you know, besides Darien Shields. Why wouldn't the press cover it?" Ami nudged her friend and Rei smiled.

"I guess. I sorta forgot all that," Rei slumped visibly in her chair. "My humiliation was witnessed by reporters."

"Don't worry, Rei. I'm sure you did fine. You have yet to take your turn tomorrow, remember?"

"I'd rather not," Rei groaned. "I don't have anything very solid. Somehow, J.D. dug up actual pictures."

"So?"

"Ami, it's hard evidence! It's near impossible to beat cold concrete evidence. Besides, who thinks to take a picture when you find your wife in that kind of situation with another man? It doesn't make sense. There has to be something else going on."

"I'm sure there is," Ami retorted, sipping her coffee. "Did you get to ask him about Serena's bruises?"

"Not yet. J.D. didn't bring it up, so I guess I will have to call him to the stand," Rei simmered.

"Well, I hope he has a darn good explanation," Ami hissed furiously. "We have pictures in the ER of Serena's broken ribs and those huge bruises. I just don't get guys like him."

"Me either!" Rei went back to sucking down her Jasmine tea. "So let's talk about something else, how's work going?"

* * *

Later that night, after a quiet evening of fun watching Miss Congeniality with Serena and a quick conversation with Darien for a date on Thursday night, Rei went to bed exhausted. She was glad she had given everyone the night off. Rei fell asleep to the sound of Serena snoring in the guest bedroom.

Rei woke instantly as the clock flashed 4:00am. She immediately reached for the phone and dialed Ami's number.

"Hello?" a voice asked, sounding a little groggy.

"Ami! It's me. Didn't you say you had pictures of Serena's bruises at the ER?" Rei asked excitedly.


	3. Day 3

_A/N: So another school year has begun and my hardest semester yet is upon me, including the infamous Organic Chemsitry class. Thus, it might be a while before the next chapter is out. Be patient with me, I swear I won't abandon this story anytime soon. I have even planned the whole plot out. The story will last 7 days/chapters. In the meantime, enjoy.  
_

* * *

Rei tapped on the large, heavy, wooden panel, glancing at Ami. She trashed her Starbucks coffee cup right before Setsuna opened the door. Rei was shocked to find the judge wearing a sharp, grey dress suit, similar to her own, instead of the usual black judge's robes she wore in court. _It suites her well_, thought Rei as she nodded at the judge and stepped into her office, Ami following behind. She shot a glare and momentarily scowled at the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed blonde lawyer sitting in the center of the pristine room. 

Somber colored law books lined the walls from ceiling to floor, giving the room an intimidating, pedantic atmosphere. A throw rug graced the floor underneath the judge's tidy desk, which had three large leather chairs in front of it. Her friend's shimmering shoulder-length blue hair caught her attention and Rei turned toward Ami who was already looking quite professional in the chair opposite J.D. Rei sank into the only other empty chair in the room, grateful for the shockingly cold leather on her bare legs. It would help keep her wits about her during this early morning appointment.

Setsuna sat down gracefully in the rolling chair behind the desk, "So what is it that brings you both to my office so early?"

Rei cleared her throat, scooting to the edge of her chair, "This is Dr. Ami Martin. Ami this is Judge Thromberg and…" Rei presented the judge, while Ami smiled.

"Jedite Dorian, but my friends call me J.D.," the stunningly smooth man got out of his seat, grabbing Ami's small hand and smiling charmingly, "It's a pleasure."

"Your Honor," Rei began, interrupting what she considered a grotesque display. She didn't like the look J.D. was giving her pretty, blue-haired friend. "Dr. Martin works at St. Luke's Hospital in the emergency room. She has new evidence for my case that I would like to add to today's proceedings."

The judge retained a professional, if somewhat shocked expression, "What is this evidence?"

Rei fumbled for a moment and then handed the judge several large brown envelopes as well as twelve photographs in a picture folder. "These are photos and x-rays taken at St. Luke's roughly a month before the incident in question. Ami…"

Ami took her cue, "The x-ray shows several fractured ribs of Mrs. Alexander and the boxer fracture of Mr. Alexander's right distal metacarpal. Both x-rays were taken on the same day. The pictures included there are of a severely bruised orbital, a fractured mandible and a displacement of the zygomatic arch, these were also taken on the same day as the x-ray of Mrs. Alexander." The judge flipped through each as Ami spoke, passing them to J.D. as she finished. "The other pictures are of various other injuries that happened prior to the others. I'm sure you can see they are all of Mrs. Alexander."

"What is this?" J.D. asked staring confused at the last several pictures. He turned them upside down and then sideways and finally passing them over Rei to Ami.

Ami looked at the pictures and blushed slightly. "These are welts and bruises on her vaginal area."

"Oh!" J.D. said and, blushing bright red, he immediately put the pictures back in the folder.

Rei couldn't help but smile at J.D.'s obvious embarrassment. Setsuna cleared her throat. "This is quite… disturbing evidence you've found Rei."

"Yes," Rei started. "That's why it needs to be in this case. I have several witnesses who already will be testifying to the abuse my client has suffered at…"

"Allegedly suffered," J.D. added. "We can't assume these injuries are from my client. For all we know Mrs. Alexander was the victim of some nameless rape."

"That's why I brought Ami," Rei said smugly, pointing to her friend.

"What did Mrs. Alexander give you as a reason for these injuries, Dr. Martin?" Judge Thromberg asked, turning her attention toward the frail doctor.

"I wasn't her attending physician during the rape case, but from what I understand she wouldn't say anything about it. The nurses had an awful time trying to get any information out of her. It's why it wasn't reported."

"What about the x-rays and facial injuries?" Rei asked quickly trying to steer the conversation before J.D. could start.

"I was on her case that day. Serena Alexander is what we call a frequent flyer. She comes in all the time. This was the first time she came in with her husband. We were all quite shocked, he seemed so charming…"

"Ami?" Rei raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Oh, sorry. They told us they were in a car accident and that Serena had hit her face on the steering wheel while Seiya had just hit his hand trying to brace himself." Ami finished a bit flushed.

"And I'm assuming you don't believe that?" Setsuna asked directly.

"Well, no."

"Of course she doesn't," J.D. started. Rei rolled her eyes, there he goes. "She has already made an assumption without facts. For all we know, they were telling the truth,"

"That's not true!" Ami said louder than normal. Rei was a little surprised but said nothing. "The reason Mr. Alexander's fracture is called the boxer fracture is because it happens to boxers when they punch something. If his injury was caused by impact he would have shattered or fractured his wrist, not a metacarpal. And there is no way that a steering wheel would have touched Serena's orbital. The zygomatic arch is there to protect the orbital. The only way that could have happened is if she was hit twice, and I doubt she slammed her head on the steering wheel after a car accident."

For a moment everyone was silent, to hear and see such a mousy girl give such a passionate speech.

"Well, I admit this evidence seems very solid…" Judge Thromberg said.

"What? This is a little late in the game to be submitting such evidence. I mean if these pictures were taken months before this incident as you say, then you should have found this before. It is a bit unfair not to mention against proper court etiquette to allow existing evidence into the proceedings so late into the trial." J.D. said pointedly, emphasized the dates on the photos. "In all fairness, a good lawyer would have found this kind of evidence before the trial began."

Rei stood infuriated, "Don't you insult me! You can hardly use that as grounds for dismissal. It is neither fair to me nor my client. I had only just made this discovery because Ami happened to mention it at lunch the other day. Before this Serena hadn't signed medical release forms…"

J.D. looked Rei sincerely in the eyes and stood sensing already he was winning, "If Dr. Martin discussed such confidential patient information to a friend in a public restaurant then she is hardly an ethical physician much less a valid expert witness."

"How dare you! I mentioned to Rei that Serena was a patient at my hospital I did not, under any circumstance, reveal _any_ confidential information. You may be a lawyer Mr. Dorian but I am a highly acclaimed physician and I know the laws concerning my practice!" Ami rebutted ardently, furrowing her eyebrows indignantly as she did so. J.D. looked impressed but did not allow it to stop him. He held up an authoritative finger and silenced Ami.

"Still, we can not allow a friend of either lawyer to enter the case as an expert witness. It would clearly be a biased testimony." J.D. said coolly, leaning both hands on the Judge's desk, "I guarantee you I will appeal this case and it will be overturned if such an unethical practice were allowed…"

"You have made your point J.D., now _sit down_," Setsuna demanded, glaring at the pushy blonde lawyer.

Judge Thromberg sat silently for a moment, examining both the evidence and the three people who sat before her. Rei noticed every nuance of her expression, from her slight grimace, to her wrinkled forehead and even the slight nod of her head. Rei knew that if the judge allowed this evidence it would mean ultimate triumph for Serena. Judge Thromberg would be the one to decide whether this trial ended now or lagged on.

"Though I must admit that you do have a point, I am sorry, Rei. As compelling, and disturbing as this evidence is, it needed to be discovered earlier; Mr. Dorian has had no time to examine this evidence, let alone find his own expert witness to refute it. Evidence of this gravity and severity should have been obtained earlier and that, Rei, is your error. As for you Dr. Martin, it was a pleasure meeting you, but under the circumstances I'm afraid I cannot allow you to be an expert witness in this case. Unlike Mr. Dorian implied, Ami, you are allowed to have your own opinion about this case and I have no doubts that you are an outstanding physician, both morally and ethically. I am also aware that Serena has signed a medical release. However, it is not clear how it was that Rei obtained notice of this evidence; the court has no way to prove that you did not disclose any confidential information, though I am sure your word is true, the same thing cannot be said about Mr. Dorian. Therefore, because the lawful origins of obtaining this evidence are unclear, I can not allow them to be presented in court."

Ami looked completely outraged, her anger evident in her glossed eyes. Rei knew her battle was lost. How could she have let J.D. sabotage her like that? She should have seen it coming; she should have been more prepared!

Rei stared at the judge sitting regally behind her desk and glared at J.D., tempted to make an opposing argument. However, she decided that arguing would only irritate the judge who she realized was intent on upholding her decision. She put her arm around her small blue-haired friend, shooting one last dirty look at J.D. who had plastered on his face a disgusting, triumphant grin.

"Thank you for your time, your honor," Rei said, surprised at how well she hid her fury, as she gracefully collected the photos and x-rays. She held back a small smile when she saw J.D.'s disappointment at her lack of persistence. _Wait until later today,_ Rei thought with a smirk as she led Ami from the room.

"Rei," Setsuna's voice boomed before the girls could leave. "I actually need to speak to you alone for a moment,"

Rei hesitated, then regretfully left Ami's side to return to the judge's chambers. J.D. gave her a smug, taunting "you're-in-trouble" look and she felt her calm composure melt away. As Setsuna closed the door behind J.D. and Ami, Rei couldn't help but feel like she had returned to grade school.

"I wanted to make it clear, Rei, why I made this decision," Setsuna began.

Rei gave her the best deer-in-the-headlights gaze and pretended to be ignorant of the betrayal Setsuna had just completed.

"I had many reasons at my command to allow the evidence you presented. Though late, I am sure you are aware that it might have won the case for you. But, you must know I wanted to give J.D. no grounds for appealing this case. I have enough faith in your skill as a lawyer that I believe you can make do without it. This must be the one and only case. There is no reason to put each party through another painful day in court,"

Rei hated Setsuna in that moment. How right she was, and for that rightness Rei wanted her to rot somewhere under a rock. Rei gritted her teeth and managed a "Thank you for your faith, Your Honor."

Outside of the chambers, Rei found a surprisingly happy Ami being wooed by J.D. At the sight of Rei, Ami popped to her feet and followed her friend out the door.

Not noticing Rei's foul mood, Ami burst, "J.D. just asked me to supper tonight,"

"WHAT!?" Rei felt something unpleasant uncoil in her gut.

* * *

The sound of a gavel pounding echoed around the courtroom, ceasing all conversation. The gavel alerted everyone that the trial was about to commence and in turn the court room began showing decorum. Rei glanced irritably at J.D. who grinned haughtily from his place beside a greasy looking Seiya. It had been difficult to shake the emotions that had been stirred earlier, but Rei was headstrong and managed to transform the negative emotions into a positive energy-- energy she was sure would give her the edge she needed. She already felt invigorated. It was as if she was on the edge of some epic battle and it was her first move. Rei could feel her heart pulse in her chest and could feel the warmth which her galvanized blood sent through her body. She quivered with anticipation. 

"Defense?" Setsuna inquired, looking down through dark lashes with her usual calm demeanor. It was obvious that the events of the morning had not changed her composure. Rei had expected nothing less from her.

Rei stood smoothly, adorned in navy, and called out charmingly, "I call Samuel Jameston to the stand." She opened the court room gate gracefully and into the courtroom stepped a muscular young man in dark cargo pants, an attention drawing orange T-shirt and tousled brown hair.

"Could you state your name, age, and relation for the court?" Rei began.

"Sammy Jameston, 20, and I'm Serena's younger brother." He leaned back in the witness stand.

"Thanks, Sammy. Were you present at Serena and Seiya's wedding?"

"Yeah."

"Did Serena appear to be content?"

"I thought she was."

"You 'thought' she was?" Rei questioned, trying to draw out more information concerning Serena's character.

"Well, yeah. She smiled deleriously on her way down the isle, she was so into Seiya during their dance, she laughed every now and then," Sammy added, trying to recall specific details of the day.

"So she acted as any woman should on such a happy occasion…?" Rei fished.

"Yeah I would assume. To be honest, I don't know anything about weddings and she was sort of distracted the whole night."

"She was distracted? Isn't that odd considering that the people that a bride most wants to be with on her wedding day are her family?"

"Objection!" exclaimed J.D., "She's leading the witness your honor."

"Sustained, watch yourself Rei," Setsuna warned. Rei contained the smile that was threatening to adorn her face. This was the adrenaline she needed.

"What about Seiya, Sammy? What kind of impression did Seiya make on your family?" Rei asked, switching the topic so as to avoid irritating the judge further.

Sammy paused, reaching to scratch his ear, his biceps rippling as he did so.

"He seemed fairly lame to me, but Serena was all about him. He wouldn't let me be in the wedding or at the bachelor party," the muscles in Sammy's jaw began working. "I heard it was because he had strippers overnight."

The court gasped, Sammy glowering with unadulterated hatred at Seiya, "I should have known from the start he was trouble. He schmoozed Mom pretty well, but Dad never liked him. Actually he hated him. Dad even refused to walk Serena down the isle, because he objected so much."

"Really? That must have crushed Serena," Rei commented.

"It did, but sadly, she still got married," Sammy replied regretfully. At this comment Seiya shifted angrily in his seat.

Rei hid a small conspiratorial smile, "Why sadly?"

"After being married Serena all but disappeared. We started seeing her less and less, until we barely got a phone call once a year. She didn't even show for dad's funeral! She always sounded so distressed and even her closest friends would ask us if we had heard anything. Nobody knew what was going on, other than the large chunks of money that started disappearing out of her trust fund." Sammy spat. "No doubt he spent it all. He was always after her money, don't buy his crap, he never loved my sister…"

"I object!" J.D. stood. "Her witness is speculating and rebel rousing my client!" Eyes turned toward the red-faced Seiya, whose shoulder was being held firmly down by J.D.'s powerful hand.

"Sustained," Setsuna replied authoritatively, not even meeting Rei's eyes this time.

"Let's go back to the trust fund," Rei said trying to salvage his testimony. Sammy was usually so cool tempered, this was unusual for him.

"Like I said, money was disappearing out of her trust fund. She had only just opened it after the wedding. Within a year, half was 'withdrawn'," Sammy rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"How much money was in Serena's trust fund?"

"Three million,"

"Are you telling me they spent 1.5 million dollars in a year?" Rei feigned shock.

"That's how much was taken out," Sammy said eyeing the judge a little.

Rei returned to her desk where she retrieved an envelope of papers. "I would like to submit an inventory list of all of the Alexander's assets. Included on the list are 9 red sports cars, a wall-sized television set, several leather whips, 4 guns, 2 sets of brass knuckles, 21 subscriptions to porn, and the list goes on..." the Judge accepted the envelope and Rei turned back to the handsome man on the witness stand.

"Sammy, did you ever see or hear of your sister hunting?"

"No,"

"Why is that?"

"She hates it."

"What about fighting? Or using brass knuckles?"

"I don't even think she knows what they are."

"Did your sister often watch television?"

"No. She preferred to paint. She's famous, you know."

"We'll get there Sammy. Did your sister own any horses?"

"Not that I know of,"

"Why then, do you think she owned whips? What could she do with brass knuckles? And so many guns?"

"He bought them, I'm sure of it." Rei paused to let this soak in; she had always had a penchant for dramatics.

"And was your sister always so detached from her loved ones?"

"What? No! She was always the social butterfly. She always got to go out to more parties than I did. If she wasn't hanging out with friends, she was at home with me and Mom,"

"Isn't it strange then that her friends hadn't heard from her since the time she had gotten married? Even her family hadn't heard of her?"

"Yeah! That's why…."

"My witness?" J.D. asked, impatiently. Rei smiled charmingly, and allowed him to question her witness.

Rei sat, waiting, hoping that everyone could feel the battle-like atmosphere. This was the reason she had become a lawyer.

"Are you in college now, Sammy?"

Sammy stared suspiciously at the suave-looking lawyer before answering, "Yeah, NYU,"

"NYU, huh? So do you live in the dorms?"

"Yeah,"

"Why?"

"It's cheaper,"

"And do you know how much it costs to own a house, Sammy?"

"Not really…"

"What about a car payment?"

"My parents take care…"

"So you don't know anything about utilities, either?"

"What does this have to do with my sister?"

J.D. smiled devilishly, "I just wanted to make the point that the newlywed's expenses might be more than you think. A big house, nine car payments, utilities, cable, internet, food, it all adds up doesn't it? And on their taxes it looks like they spent almost $31,000 in medical bills..." he looked contentedly at Rei, hoping to spur her into mistake.

"Objection your honor! Is Mr. Dorian going to ask questions of my witness, or are you going to continue to allow him to make a fool of himself?" Rei asked the judge silkily, the sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

Judge Thromberg eyed Rei crossly but turned her stare onto an angered J.D.

"No matter how ill phrased Ms. Hino's objection was, she does have a point. If you are to continue with this witness Mr. Dorian I suggest you do it by proper court etiquette," Setsuna replied icily.

J.D. stared at the judge, cursing Rei under his breath. "One more question. Sammy, what kind of job did your sister have?"

"I didn't know at the time…" Sammy suddenly mumbled.

"I'm not asking about the time, I'm asking what you know now."

Sammy's voice quieted, "A famous painter. She was well known, made all her own money…"

"After she got married, Sammy, what was her occupation?"

Sammy mumbled something.

"What? We couldn't hear you," J.D. almost sang.

"A stripper…okay?" Sammy glared.

"Thank you, Sammy. I'm done," J.D. smiled. Sammy walked down from the stand and headed for the gate, until Seiya finally couldn't hold in his snide remarks.

"That's right, all powerful one! Think you're so much better now that you know your precious sister is nothing more than a low down, dirty stripper whore!" Seiya yelled.

It only took a second for the snide remark to sink in. The tension in the courtroom during those couple of seconds was unbearable. Sammy's rage was evident in his stiff posture and scarlet complexion. Everyone was on edge, waiting to see Sammy's reaction. Just as everyone thought the whole fiasco was over Sammy spun on his heels, and jammed his fist into Seiya's face before anyone could even think to blink.

The courtroom delved into chaos, and the judge tried fruitlessly to cease the madness by banging her gavel feverously. The bustle of the courtroom had attracted more spectators and Seiya's bleeding nose and the call for security guards was likely to add many more.

Rei noticed Serena's body tense as she let a small "Sammy!" escape from her lips. Her face paled as she watched Sammy's fist contact Seiya's face once more, blood spurting. Darien jumped from the crowd to join the group of men trying to restrain the fighting, giving Serena and Rei a quick glance.

"Order!" Setsuna trilled standing, still ignored because of the scuffle. Storming out of the judge's box, Setsuna made her way into the middle of the skirmish as the men around them parted instinctively. She put a calm long-fingered palm on Sammy's shoulder and hauled him off a bloody, screaming Seiya. Seiya took advantage of the situation to take a sucker punch at Sammy's abs, making him bend in pain. J.D. quickly melted out of the crowd, grabbed Seiya by the arms and shoved him in his chair.

The judge immediately placed herself between the two fighters, and put her finger in Seiya's face. "Enough! I will not stand for such ostentatious displays of disrespect!" she turned her eyes now on Seiya and held him there with a powerful stare. "Another outbreak like that and I'll have you dragged to jail until these proceedings are through! Do you understand me? You are in no position to produce such an unfavorable image."

"We apologize, Your Honor," J.D. said crisply, his contorted facial features showing his utter fear at his case being lost because of the scuffle.

"He's a menace!" Seiya barked angrily, feigning realization of the judge. As if on cue, there was a rush of incoming security guards, who dragged Sammy from the room.

_All right Sammy!_ Rei smiled, squeezing Serena's tense hand. "He'll be okay," she murmured. "They'll let him go. Trust me, I'm a lawyer for a reason."

Serena nodded, shadows of terror still reflected in her eyes.

"You gotta hand it to your brother though," Rei whispered lightly brushing a soothing finger over Serena's cheek. "If he hadn't done it, I would have." She slowly opened her eyes and saw Seiya with brown circles of drying blood spotting his pristine white suit.

Serena tried to smile at her lawyer, as Setsuna returned to the judge's box. "This court will _not _stand for such barbaric acts of insolence. Make it a point to contain your witnesses, Rei."

Rei just shrugged her shoulders, leaning back in her chair, "He was provoked your honor, what could I have done? I most certainly do not have control over the Plaintiff's mouth."

J.D. cast Rei a resentful look as the Judge settled herself back to into her chair.

"Do you need a recess?" Thromberg asked, directing her question at a disheveled Seiya.

"No, he'll be fine." J.D. ascertained, watching as his client tried wiping the dried blood from his face with napkins.

"Well then let us proceed with the next witness!" Judge Thromberg demanded.

Rei nodded, "We call Mina Delacarte to the stand." Rei noticed and mentally thanked Darien who was now sitting directly behind Seiya, ready to pounce if he should try anything else. She felt pride well up in her chest.

Rei was interrupted by the back door swinging open and a sudden change in the courtroom atmosphere. Everyone turned as high heels clacked quickly on the tiled floor announcing the entrance of a pair of gorgeous long legs. They were encased in a simple white dress that ran over promising hints of delectable curves. The thin touch of orange thread stitched around the hem added a dash of color that was reflected in the modest neckline. Glowing skin, impassioned lips, large somber blue eyes, topped off with natural blonde hair swirled professionally in a French Twist completed the vision of the kind-hearted, supermodel therapist. Her face flushed becomingly, as she gave her best sheepish smile, silently apologizing for being late.

"Could you please state your occupation for the court?" Rei stood undaunted before the beauty in the witness stand, regardless that the woman appeared to have just stepped out of magazine ad.

"I am a psychiatrist. I received my degree from Harvard University," she breathed, staring at Rei for any signs that Rei had forgiven her for her entrance. Rei ignored Mina's silent plea.

"Do you know my client?" Rei pointed to Serena who was relaxing in the presence of the psychiatrist.

"Serena Alexander," Mina winked at Serena who actually smiled. "Of course, she is my patient."

"How often have you been seeing Serena?"

"Twice a week," Mina smiled brightly, eyes crinkling slightly.

"And what have you deduced about her marital integrity?"

Mina's smile slowly disappeared from her face and she resumed a somber expression, "She had a very hard home life. Her marriage seemed to be falling apart after the honeymoon. Her husband seemed to be playing the role of alpha male in the relationship while she took the role of subordinate. We've had several sessions about whether she was okay with that."

"Was she?"

"No, but she didn't know any other way to avoid being hurt." Mina squeaked.

"Hurt?"

"Serena has admitted she is afraid of her husband, though she hasn't been able to provide specific reasons as to why…" Mina trailed off, thoughtfully.

"Did she ever mention Mr. Diamond in your sessions?"

"Not by name, but she did mention an exquisite and charming man she'd met. It was a friendship I warned her about. Several days had passed before she mentioned him again. She related to me that the man had expressed a wish to be more than friends and he didn't seem to be able to take a polite reminder that she was married as a negation to his wishes."

"What became of this man?"

"I am not quite sure, after that day she quit talking about him. I _had_ heard that he had been giving her some problems due to the fact that Serena had never bluntly negated the man's insistencies, though I doubt a blunt refusal would have deterred this man anyway. He seemed hell-bent on having her," Mina's lips turned up slightly until Rei turned her fiery purple gaze hotly at the woman.

"Why didn't she just say no?" Rei asked with a hint of disgust, catching Mina's attention sharply.

"It is my professional opinion that at that time she was incapable of saying 'no' to _any_ man."

"Explain,"

Mina nodded earnestly, "You have to understand, Serena's been my patient since the death of her fatherShe had always given the illusion of being a bright, cheery person but she truly had darker issues. She made the decision to marry Seiya perhaps too quickly. She saw him as a quick fix for her father to see her get married than a loving until-death-do-us-part husband; something that he used to his advantage by manipulating her with blackmail, abuse, and her family to get what he wanted. He did it slowly enough that Serena knew what was happening faintly enough to know she was losing but not how or to what end. She has confessed despair without a full realization of why. He messed with her for a full year before her spirit broke." Mina paused for effect.

"I think that she was so scared of men that she couldn't be confident enough to repel this so-called Diamond in a way she normally would have," the blonde woman pushed up her fashionable glasses. "You see the same pattern with rape victims. They turn themselves inside because they can't find a way to escape physically."

"So Seiya has raped her?"

"I cannot confirm that myself. She hasn't mentioned anything, but she does act as a rape victim would."

"You mentioned physical abuse…?"

"She was often seen with various bruises. I know she was frequently seen at the hospital as well. She never seemed to remember where she got them, which is again typical for a victim of this kind of abuse,"

"You also said something about manipulation?" Rei prompted.

Mina sighed, "I believe Mr. Alexander knew about Mr. Diamond's advances…"

"I object!" J.D. stood.

"On what grounds?" Rei instantly demanded.

"Witness is stating her opinion,"

"The witness is an expert psychiatrist," Rei retorted snidely, looking at him like he was stupid. "She's here on the very assumption that she will share her professional opinion about my client and yours."

"But…"

"Overruled," Setsuna's authoritative voice startled them. "J.D., you knew what kind of evidence Miss Delacarte was going to submit before this case began and you still approved her as an expert witness." Setsuna dismissed further arguments by returning her attention to Mina.

J.D. huffed and sat down disgruntled.

"I apologize for the interruption, Miss Delacarte, please continue," Rei stated smugly.

"Like I said, I believe Seiya knew about Mr. Diamond's uncomfortable advances and used it to guilt her into doing things. I also believe that he used threats of divorce, physical prowess, and threats of hurting her family to cow her into doing the things she didn't want to do."

"Like what?"

"The one instance she spoke of was him taking away her credit cards and taking her name off all bank accounts to control her flow of money and her freedom. He then forced her to get a job,"

"Do you know what that job was?"

"No and I didn't push the matter," the blonde beauty paused, staring intently at Serena before deciding to go any further. Something passed between them and Mina added, "She did mention how demeaning her job was, how she reviled it. But she seemed torn because she cherished the camaraderie among her co-workers and mentioned something about feeling better outside the house and away from his presence. It was the one interaction she seemed allowed beyond myself. I will admit I was a bit curious about it."

Rei nodded, pacing in front of the witness stand, "What kind of abuse did Serena suffer at the hands of her husband?"

"It is hard to get the victim to talk about their humiliation. Beyond the credit card incident, I only was able to get bits and pieces from her that weren't complete."

"Thank you," Rei turned toward J.D. "Your witness."

J.D. got to his feet, quickly regaining his composure. Rei could almost hear the gears in his head beginning to spin. _Just try it_, Rei thought sitting next to Serena, _This witness is smarter than you!_

"Miss Delacarte, if you believe Mr. Alexander to be such a bad husband and a manipulative man, why would he allow Serena to come see you so often?" J.D. boomed.

Mina's blue eyes glared at him and she replied icily, "Perhaps as a good front, it would make for an excellent defense when he finally decided to carry out his threat of divorcing her."

"Or maybe he actually cared for the welfare of his wife?" J.D. grinned a little, knowing he had gotten under her skin, "Why would anyone divorce their dream girl, anyway? She's beautiful, rich, and a stripper. If what you say is true, she is bending to his every whim! Why would you divorce that?"

"She most likely got out from under his thumb a bit. Maybe she was going to expose him somehow and he couldn't deal with the threat!" Mina looked accusingly at Seiya, who sat calmly.

"You say that she suffered, but you don't give us a single example other than she had to get a job?" J.D. delivered coolly. "Oh, poor, little rich girl."

"Objection your honor! He's slandering my client's character!" cried Rei, infuriated that he would dare make such a remark.

"Sustained. Mr. Dorian, let me remind you that you are still in a court of law, apparently both you and your client have seemed to forget that," stated Setsuna irritably. J.D. soured a bit at the reminder of his clients previous outbreak but cleared his throat and muttered a "Yes your Honor" before continuing his cross-examination.

"As I was saying," J.D. began, trying to recapture his authoritative stance, "There are no examples she suffered from the marriage other than attaining a job which most people wouldn't consider tremendously upsetting, isn't that right?"

"When they returned from their honeymoon, Seiya hid all Serena's clothes outside the house and made her walk around naked for a month!" Mina stood, yelling at J.D.

"That doesn't mean anything, what man doesn't want to see his wife naked all the time?"

"Even when his friends are over?" Mina's voice sank; it was barely above a whisper and thrumming with anger.

J.D. knew when he was beat; he grimaced at the beauty and turned abruptly to his seat. Mina winked in Serena's direction as she headed out, pulling her vivacious orange purse after her. She clacked her way out the door, hoping to make her next appointment in a timely fashion.

Setsuna looked at Rei expectantly, who was already standing, "We call Lita Silesky to the stand."

A determined, confidant brown haired woman approached the stand. She was considered pretty, beautiful if one decided to look closer, but her glamour seemed somewhat tarnished after Mina's supermodel beauty. In an attempt to tame her wavy brown locks, she tied it back in one long pony tail that bounced as she walked. She swore to tell the truth in a simple white t-shirt and tight jeans that seemed to, in some way, give her more class than anyone else in the room. Lita's most remarkable feature was her startling green eyes. With one look, she gave off an almost electrical vibe that would cause goose bumps to rise on the back of the receiver's neck. Just as Serena represented everything that was soft feminine and innocent, Lita was everything a woman could be proud of, including a large chest that was the envy of the room.

"Lita, could you state the nature of your occupation and relation to Serena for the court?"

"I'm Serena's boss, I own the Lady Legs Bar on 7th street."

"We've been talking for sometime now about how our sweet little Serena is a stripper. Since you own the bar, perhaps you can tell us the story? How did she become interested in her job?"

"Of that I'm not quite sure. I inherited the bar as somewhat of a family business, because it is more of a gentleman's club at night I get all sorts of girls who have applied for jobs, but she was the hardest to read by far," Lita paused making sure everyone was listening. "Serena was accompanied by her husband during the interview, which is most unusual. He seemed to force her hand when signing the papers. He had to push her on stage to make her show me a dance. She was terrified, but she insisted she wanted the job, which I gave her. She had the perfect body and beauty for my bar. She went through training just as the rest of my dancers and was a natural. When she finally went out on stage she was an instant favorite,"

"She was that popular?"

"I don't know what it was, she was so timid and fragile off stage. But on stage she was something else. Though I'm sure she didn't like exotic dancing she seemed to be free on stage. She showed confidence, ferocity, and an allure beyond sexuality I have never imagined." Lita's face lit at the mental picture forming in her head. "However, Serena never seemed cut out for the kind of dancing they do at my bar. One night she was particularly good on stage and several men harassed her, they had to be thrown out. She was shaken after that, never seemed to get her groove back. So I let her have some time off, she painted murals on the walls. I didn't know what to expect but they are all abstract, very beautiful."

"So she wasn't a stripper anymore?"

"Well, she seemed so much happier painting the murals, though I had several disgruntled customers. Eventually though, her husband came as he usually did once a week, and saw she wasn't performing."

"And he was upset?"

"Upset?" Lita's eyes glittered with something dangerous, even Rei unconsciously took a step back. "He went ballistic, broke several dozen of my dishes and broke two customer's noses and tried to take on my whole security team. I had to thrown him out myself,"

"Really? Astonishing. What happened then?" Rei asked sarcastically.

"After that Serena started dancing again, though not as well as before. She cried often on stage and off. Several of the girls approached me, as well, worried about her home life. It got to a point where we started having to order extra cover up for her various bruises."

"Bruises?" Rei echoed.

"She came in sporting all sorts of colors, they weren't very good for business. Every once in awhile we get a few girls who have the same problem, but they never last long in any job. Serena, however, stayed."

"Did anyone ask her about them? The bruises?" Rei asked licking her lips thoughtfully.

"Of course. She and I had many long talks in my office. All I could get out of her was she fell down a lot. I offered to help her in anyway I could, even offered her a place to stay if she would leave him…"

"Leave him?"

"Bruises like that come from a person, my guess is the husband. He was slimy from the beginning, even in my line of work. He had been a frequent customer before his wife applied, offering to take home several girls a night. We never knew he was married until she came in…"

"That doesn't sound like a very loving husband," Rei spat, throwing a quick glare toward J.D.'s table. "Did you hear Miss Delacarte's testimony?"

"I did," Lita nodded.

"And how accurate was she about Serena's man problems?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure," Lita looked at the judge hesitantly. "But I know that Diamond guy was around frequently. He was constantly trying to sneak back into Serena's change-room. We had him thrown out on a number of occasions and finally banned after getting on stage with her and trying to pull her to the back."

"Anything else?"

"I think she was overly timid around men. I only witnessed the part where she can't tell men no. It included everyone, security guards, Diamond, my husband, and customers. It was depressing really. Serena would show us glimmers of her personality as I imagined it was before she became like it. During those times, she was funny, sweet, and clumsy. The contrast between her actions at those times and every other time showed me how broken she really was. I don't know what he did to her, but I hope he pays," Lita finished with force.

"Oh, okay," Rei finished rather lamely. "Your witness,"

J.D. nodded and stood, waiting for Rei to return to her chair. His brow furrowed, studying the girl in front of him.

"You don't seem to be the type to own a strip club," he commented softly. Rei unconsciously raised an eyebrow.

"It's a rather long story that I'd rather not go into right now," Lita colored a little.

"Of course," J.D. said not losing a beat. "Earlier you mentioned Serena took a break from dancing to paint a mural on your wall, proving your uncanny generosity at least for a person of business."

Lita's eyes crinkled, "That's not much coming from a lawyer."

"My big problem with this whole story is that your compassion only seems to be short lived. Why did you give her break then?"

Lita opened her mouth but J.D. ran over her.

"I mean really, where was your compassion when she applied? You said she applied almost unwillingly and she really didn't like her job, why didn't you do her a favor and not hire her in the first place? After all you said she felt degraded and hated it, after you hired her, wouldn't you, as a person so full of compassion and understanding, at least fire her?"

"What! That's not what…well, you have to understand that… I wanted to help her in anyway I could to get her away from her husband. The only way available to me at the time was to hire her….I didn't..."

"That still doesn't answer the question. You knew she didn't want the job, and hated it later. How could you make her go up on stage and dance so degradingly?"

:"I never forced her to do anything."

"You might as well have, you said you knew she couldn't say no," J.D. said calmly.

Lita's eyes filled with tears, "That's not what I intended. I said she couldn't say no to men, but…"

"Well, were there men around when you do the interview? Or when you told her to go up on stage?"

"Well, my husband, but he would never…"

"There you go then, you forced her to go on stage!"

"You're _wrong_. I protected her. I'm sure she would rather have danced than be with that shitty husband of hers away." Lita stood, slamming her fist on the witness stand.

"Calm down, Mrs. Silesky," J.D. said, examining his fingernails with a coy smile on his lips. He waited for the girl to sit again. "Now, is it possible that little timid Serena felt obliged to go up on stage because you expected her to? Isn't it probable that she felt like she had no way out?"

"I suppose it's possible, but I never meant…" Lita looked pleadingly at Serena.

"That's all," J.D. prompted and held open the witness's gate for her to step down.

"But I'm not finished!" Lita demanded looking at Setsuna.

"I'm sorry, but if the lawyers have no more questions than you must step down," Judge Thromberg stated.

"I have no further questions, Your Honor," J.D. said emphatically.

Lita huffed down the steps and went directly to Serena's side. "You know I never meant…" Serena put her arms around her friend, and hugged her.

"I know you didn't."

"Hey! Hey!" Rei whispered urgently. "You'll have to do this another time. Sit _down_, Serena, before…"

"Rei? Is this another problem with your witness?" Setsuna threatened.

"No, Your Honor," Rei said, as Serena sat and Lita sheepishly put her head on the shoulder of a menacing looking brown haired man in the audience.

"Alright then," Judge Thromberg stood. "I think we've all had enough for today. The court will reconvene tomorrow at nine o'clock." The gavel pounded once as her long green hair swished into her chambers.

Rei stood with a sigh. That could have gone better. She would have to do better tomorrow. Luckily, she had an evening filled with Darien to look forward to. He would help her strategize and calm her nerves.

* * *

Rei ran about her fifth story apartment in a disorganized frenzy. On her bed lay at least six different outfits, several more lay auspiciously on the floor, while her dresser displayed dozens of various make-up utensils and hair products. A least three different cords curled their way from the power outlet to the bathroom, where a slew of jewelry pieces and perfume decorated the countertop. 

"Geez, what happened in here?" Lita asked.

Rei rushed out of the laundry room on the other side of the house. A stunningly gorgeous turquoise gown floated over her luscious curves to dangle whimsically at her knees, half her raven black hair tumbled in loose curls over her bare shoulder, while the other was tied in a messy knot out of the way. A single, tall black pump graced her left foot as a more graceful brown sandal encased her right. "You're finally here! Where have you been?"

Lita tried to keep her straight face at the sight of such feminine indecision. "I had to drop off a few cases at my bar, but if I had known this was going to be such an emergency," Lita trailed off.

"He's going to be here any minute! Can you zip this up?" Rei panicked and turned around displaying an open zipper.

Lita reached forward smiling, "Where is Serena? Why isn't she helping you?"

"She's on the couch and absolutely refuses to move. She keeps blubbering about something and breaks out crying. She insists on apologizing to me every five seconds, that's why I had to call you," Rei rushed into the open bathroom to pick up one of the curling irons, while letting down the rest of her hair. "I just can't handle her like this,"

"That's strange," Lita contemplated, following Rei into the very crowded bathroom. "Sounds like you're not going to get a break this week,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lita looked around, distracted. One of the cords leading into the bathroom lead to a portable coffee maker, which was half empty. The sink countertop was covered with manilla folders and their contents. Every other minute Rei would look down read something, take a sip of her coffee, and go back to her hair.

"With whatever this is, the case, and J.D. and all,"

"This is the most fancy date Darien has ever asked me on, and what about J.D.?" Rei stopped to take a sip of coffee. "I can take him,"

"Yeah, I'm not so sure I helped you out there, today." Lita dropped her smile.

Rei popped her head out of the bathroom momentarily to study the brunette. "You didn't do that bad. I mean he is a tough interrogator. I've heard many expert witnesses cave. Don't worry too much. He has a sharp wit and twists words better than any lawyer I've ever met,"

"Wow Rei, are you sure you're not dating J.D. instead of Darien?" Lita teased.

Rei bustled out of the bathroom, hair in perfect loose curls. "I should say not!" Rei stared at herself in front of her closet mirror and turned trying to decide which shoe she should choose.

"Well, if you ask me, he wouldn't be a bad catch,"

"I'm not asking you, I am perfectly content with Darien thank you," At that statement, sobbing came from the next room. Rei turned toward the door, but Lita held her back.

"You get ready for your date, I'll take care of her." With that Lita walked out of the room and let Rei get ready.

After several more minutes of changing shoes, Rei added a dash of perfume and left the bedroom. Lita had her arm around a very damp Serena, tears still pouring down her cheeks.

Lita winked at Rei as Darien's car honked from the street. "Knock him dead," Lita called.

Serena took that moment to launch herself at Rei, frantically mumbling incoherently. Rei pulled the girl into a hug and let her calm somewhat. "It's okay, Rena. It's just Darien, I'll be back tonight."

"No! No! Don't go! I have to tell you, it should be me! I just…. You shouldn't… You can't leave! Stay here," Serena stuttered hot tears running her mascara down her face.

"What are you talking about?" Rei pulled the girl up to look her in the face.

"Please, Rei, please. I beg you don't go!" Serena yelled before Lita pulled her back.

"Maybe I should stay," Rei considered looking concerned.

"Oh no you don't. You've worked too hard not to go. You look hot enough to propose to! She's just upset. I'll take her for the night. You go," Lita had Serena in a bear hug, who seemed to be flailing. Darien honked a second time.

"Go now, before you upset her further!" Lita yelled. Rei gave one last glance over her shoulder at the blubbering blonde before she walked out the door and down to join Darien in his Sudan.

The dim restaurant was filled with the clatter of silverware and languid saxophone music. Lazy smoke drifted over the front hall chandelier that was bigger than Rei's car. Darien strode forward confidently to the host's chickaree podium to pick up their reservations, while Rei took in the scene.

The room was almost tent-like, the golden chandelier dominating the center and hanging securely above a small jazz band that played a lazy, seductive tune while wearing matching tuxedos with light pink ties. Waiters bustled politely through the tables arranged randomly around the band. Every table sported only two or three chairs.

As the host lead Rei and Darien to a table for two toward the back, Rei was impressed by the dazzling display of wealth each customer radiated. Rei noticed the large sparkling diamonds that graced many women's ears and the complex designer gowns they wore. She began to question the appropriateness of her simple-seeming dress and modest jewelry.

The host pulled out the polished hickory chair waiting for Rei to be seated and distracting her from any more doubt about her dress. He quickly pulled two menu's out of his apron. "For madame and missour," he bowed, set them gently on the table, and left.

"Wow, Darien. You really outdid yourself tonight," Rei whispered across the table. He locked eyes with her only for a moment and quickly looked away, studying the menu harder than was necessary.

Soon an attendant brought a courtesy '87 Merlot to the table, finally breaking the comfortable silence.

"So did you talk anyone into taking that class you don't want to teach?" Rei began pleasantly, remembering a freshman level class he had been complaining about for weeks.

"Uh, yeah. Professor Tomoe took it for me," Darien shifted in his seat.

"The father or the daughter?"

"The daughter. She really is a good professor, but I'll be glad to have her out of my lab."

"Is she that bad?"

"No, but you know how she and her father can be, they do it their way," he said idly taking another sip of his wine.

"Yeah, how did you get her to take the class?"

"Oh, she was very nice about it, but then again she's always been quiet really. Not much of a backbone," Darien referred to the mousey black-haired daughter of the head of the biochemistry department, and his boss. "I did have to take her upper division Organic Chemsitry, though,"

"Oh, that should be better," Rei said, out of things to talk about. She decided to return to the very complex menu.

"Yeah," Darien fidgeted and watched the waiters go by. Several times, Rei thought she heard him begin to say something, but when she looked up he was always biting his lip.

Finally, Rei deiced to ask, "So do you know what you want to get?"

"Huh? What?"

"To eat?" Rei encouraged.

"Oh yeah, I'm going to have the Chicken Gratinee Clafouti,"

"Yeah, that looks pretty good," Rei commented not entirely sure what it was, but if Darien liked it, it would do. Silence fell yet again.

Finally, a pretty young waitress with hair that matched Rei's dress approached their table. "Are you two ready to order?" she asked pleasantly.

"I think we are," Darien began, nodding at Rei.

After ordering the stunning waitress gracefully collected their menus, doing a double take of Darien. "Excuse me, aren't you Professor Darien Shields from UM?"

"Yes,"

"Oh! I wanted to tell you I was very much impressed with your article on the cardiopulmonary platelets and their effects on the mitochondria,"

Darien beamed, "You read that. Thank you."

"Name's Michelle. I am working on my doctorate in biochemistry at MSU," she offered him her hand, and they shook.

"Wonderful. Have you read the new article out by Dr. Brian Jones?"

"On the theory of cellular methalene vectors? I am doing my dissertation on it!" Michelle exclaimed.

Rei began to tune the two out, already feeling somewhat rejected. She had no idea what they were talking about and doubted she would contribute to the conversation even if she did. For awhile Rei watched the two interact, Darien's hands swinging about and pounding the table to emphasize his point while Michelle's eyes gleamed prettily as she nodded and swept her perfect hair behind her shoulder. Rei started to feel uncomfortable and somewhat jealous.

Rei brushed the thought from her head, staring instead at the tiny engraved silver fork and the matching silver spoon, both wrapped delicately in an off-white cloth napkin. So perfect together.

"Well, well. Look who we have here," a male voiced burst from behind her. Rei jumped and was surprised to find a very suave looking J.D. sporting sun glasses and a lovely young woman in a yellow silk dress decorating his arm.

"Ami!" Rei blurted, she had forgotten about their argument earlier.

Her pretty blue-haired friend nodded, hugging J.D.'s arm closer. Michelle and Darien had stopped their discussion at the interruption.

"I had better get back to work," Michelle hesitated, eyeing Darien's empty glass. "I'll get you two a refill," she regretfully retreated into the kitchen, leaving the two couples to talk.

"Not preparing for court tomorrow?" J.D. asked, eyebrow raised.

"I don't need to prepare, I am ready," Rei smiled instinctively, reaching for Darien's hand which wasn't there.

"Arrogant much?" J.D. quipped.

Rei sighed and shook her head. "I think you have the one up on me there,"

"Mmrph," J.D. suddenly seemed very fascinated with Darien, who was shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. A coy smile lit his lips after seeing Rei's unsuccessful attempt to catch Darien's hand, interrupted only by Ami's quick tug on his arm. "Well, I leave you two to your… chat," J.D. winked at Darien and lead Ami to their table.

"That was strange," Rei commented, studying Darien's panicked look. Before Rei had a chance to ask, J.D. bustled back over to their table, tossing a five dollar bill at Rei. "Here honey, you might need a drink later,"

Rei raised an eyebrow and caught the fiver resentfully. She quickly folded it in half and held it out for him with a hint of disgust, "I don't drink,"

"You will," J.D. insisted, refusing to take it.

"And you know me so well," Rei spat sarcastically, throwing it back at him.

"We'll see," J.D. picked up the folded bill, smoothed it out, and placed it carefully under Rei's water glass. He patted Darien on the shoulder, whispered something into his ear, and left.

Darien was had now began to sweat a little, the panic draining from his face only with strict self control. Rei suddenly felt forsaken and out of the loop, "What did he say?"

Darien took a breath, "Nothing of consequence,"

Rei studied him for a moment, what an obvious lie. But Michelle came again to the aide of her favorite professor by setting a carefully prepared chicken dish in front of them and opening another bottle of Merlot. "Enjoy," she smiled, and scurried away.

Most of the meal was eaten in silence, despite Rei's attempts to engage him in conversation. He was nervous about something and Rei's interest was now peaked. Once the meal was over and their empty plates whisked away. They both waited in silence for Michelle to return with Darien's credit card, it finally arrived but he didn't move to touch it. Instead, he grabbed Rei's hand, stared into her eyes for a moment then dropped both his gaze and her hand. In his eyes was more emotion than Rei wanted to dissect.

"Rei, I have something important to tell you," Darien bit his lip momentarily.

"Oh?" Rei feigned, trying to calm the anticipation eating it's way through her stomach. She tried not to be too hopeful.

"I've been trying to work up the courage all night," Darien started. "Our relationship thus far has been…" He paused to think of the word as Rei edged out her chair trying to ready herself. "enlightening."

"Enlightening?" Weird choice of words, she thought.

"Yes, I have learned so much from you and about you. You are a wonderful person, a fantastic lawyer, and a good friend. I hope things will stay that way for a long time,"

"They will," Rei beamed.

"This past week has been stressful and educational for us both. With my promotion and your big case I have had a lot of time to reflect on what it is exactly I want," Darien spoke carefully, staring at his wine glass. Rei held her breath.

"And I realized that you are everything a guy could ask for and more, I really valued our relationship…"

"Valued?" Rei interrupted worriedly.

"But I found something I want more. We have had a good go of it, Rei, but I can't have both. I have considered this for awhile and I want us, I have for awhile, but I found something I want more. I'm sorry Rei," Darien finished staring into her violet eyes, clouded with confusion. The anticipation in her gut suffocated, experiencing a quick a painful death.

"What?" Rei asked, a large ball of dread already building itself forcefully in her throat. Her eyes began to well with tears against her will.

"I'm sorry Rei, it's over," he sat silently for awhile, letting her soak it in, not daring to meet her gaze, expecting her to cause a scene.

Instead, she sat silently erect, blinking rapidly and staring at her left hand. How awry tonight had gone. She felt stupid and childish for ever expecting a proposal, of course he had invited her here to break up. All the signs had been there. How selfish she had been! Dread and a strange sense of self-loathing and abandonment began to feast upon her heart, even as the lump in her throat threatened to take over her wind-pipe. Rei gave in to it for a moment, then narrowed her eyes, squeezing her ring finger as if trying to force the lump down. She fought the tears away as best she could.

Once she was sure she could control them for a small amount of time, she looked across the table where the most important part of her heart sat staring at her with infuriating patience. Why couldn't he have been a jerk about it? Why couldn't he have hit her or cheated on her or called her a bitch? Instead, he commanded her attention with his caring, sincere look and his perfectly kissable lips that she was never again allowed to touch. Her tears welled once again, threatening to spill, she looked away quickly.

Darien took that as his cue and reached for his credit card. He stood and slowly turned to walk away.

Rei felt a sense of urgency rise in her chest, her loss flooding her mind. "Will you…Are you…can you at to my case tomorrow?" Her voice squeaked, betraying her hurt. She cursed it and herself for giving it away and embarrassing herself.

Darien paused, back still facing her. "I will," he promised and walked out of the restaurant.

Rei sat for many tortured minutes, dazed, tears finally winning the battle. She let them flow, Darien no longer witness to her pain, all else forgotten. How easily her world had fallen apart.

All things had culminated at a stand still and she couldn't get around it. Her brain was silent for an unknown amount of time, a muddle of emotion clouding all thought. She sat in her chair, just feeling her heart beat within her chest, feeling as if it would rip open. If only she could rip it open and let all the blood run out, all the emotion that she had for him would run out, and the pain would finally be gone. Then everything would be alright again.

Slowly the shock began to wear off, her hand began to tremble. Unexplainable anguish settled in her chest, air seemed unable to make the journey to her lungs, time and loss began to flood everything. She felt as if her lifeline had just been cut and the cord had ricocheted and hit her in the face.

Until a single blurry vision consumed her focus, there under her water glass no more than inches from her lay the crunched, distorted five dollar bill. It lay in testament to all that had happened and all that had been broken. Anger filled her upon the sight of it replacing the rejection, rage consuming her every fiber. He had known all along! She remembered his coy smile and his quick and uncharacteristic excuse to let them chat. Rei pulled the five from under the glass, knocking it over and spilling the contents on the table.

Rei wiped the tears from her eyes and stood, holding the soggy bill. He would pay, he would pay for enjoying her suffering. Tomorrow would be the best damn court case he had ever been to. She would get Darien back and watch J.D. writhe in his obvious loss.

She walked toward the door, her plight confident and uncaring as opposed to her hesitant and awed entrance. Through the restaurant, Rei began to notice the things she had missed on her way in: the gaudy way the oversized diamond earrings looked on the flamboyantly shallow women, the tense, strained atmosphere that seemed to infect each table, the overwhelming number of false smiles and desperate-to-escape looks that many customers couldn't hide, the strained sense of useless propriety, and the genuine lack of all things true and real.

Rei reached the door and flung it open, still clinging to the soggy fiver, a fiery, dangerous look on her face. She stormed out of the restaurant, flippantly allowing the doors to slam. She strode into the night making a bee line for her apartment, people shrinking back from her war path.

_Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned.  
_

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